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Good morning. I sat in Donald Trump’s office years ago, watching him cover a table with paper after paper on various buildings bearing his name. Trump wanted to prove that he was a billionaire, contrary to the allegations of writer Tim O’Brien, whom he was suing for suggesting otherwise. (The suit was ultimately dismissed.) He pointed to the stack of papers, the number of products bearing his name, the pink Italian marble in the lobby, the finer details of his office. He even showed me his watch. Thousands paid to hear him speak at The Learning Annex, he told me, because they want to be a billionaire like Donald Trump. Being rich wasn’t just part of his brand. It was his brand. This was a leader who largely measured success by a single metric.
Now, nobody can dispute that Trump is rich. He made more money last year as president than he ever did in a year as CEO. We don’t know how much tax he will pay on the $2.2 billion in earnings, as he is the first U.S. president to refuse to release his tax returns and secured an unprecedented tax immunity deal in exchange for dropping a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. Trump’s sons run the business, control the trust containing his assets, and have launched lucrative new ventures using his name. (His sons and the White House have repeatedly stated there is no conflict of interest.) Trump’s latest 927-page disclosure gives fascinating insights into how the president is getting rich, through crypto ventures and active stock trading, as well as a $77,808 pension from the Screen Actors Guild and a $250,000 sculpture from a longtime CEO supporter.
But everything has a cost. Take the Qatari-gifted Air Force One, which took its inaugural flight yesterday. Trump took the $400 million jet as a gift to taxpayers and then spent at least that much in taxpayer dollars to make it “the world’s most luxurious plane.” Although the gift was deemed legal, multiple polls show voters felt it raised ethical concerns and several prominent Republicans in Congress spoke out against it.
The president’s personal gains cause even more concern. Trump’s investment managers bought and sold company stocks an average of 58 times a day in the first quarter. Some say that’s normal for high-volume, tax-optimized trading. Others are suspicious. The recent disclosure showed 327 individual stock purchases a day before Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs, for example, which caused a market rally that he took credit for.
I meet plenty of CEOs who like the Trump administration’s approach to technology, innovation, regulation, taxation, and the overall ethos of making America great. Behind closed doors, though, many say they don’t trust him. Conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly called the family “grifty” in a Sky News interview. Trust in the federal government is at a two-decade low, and that’s according to a Fox News poll. The Pew Research Center did a 36-country survey that found the rest of the world has negative views of Trump and doesn’t think America is a reliable partner.
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the Lester Crown Professor of Leadership Practice at the Yale School of Management and founder of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, says the president’s willingness to get rich on the job is undermining his credibility and popularity with his base. The irony is that Trump doesn’t seem to get much joy from his money. “He doesn’t cruise on his yacht. Other than the golf course, there’s no luxury in that man’s life,” says Sonnenfeld. “What he cares about is losing pride and being ridiculed.” For someone who seems to equate being rich with getting respect, money can feel like a familiar friend. As he faces pushback—from Republican colleagues voting to limit executive authority to consumer boycotts—the president isn’t recalibrating but rather doubling down on what he knows. As he told reporters yesterday, “I’m profiting. We’re all profiting. Thank you President Trump!”
A side note: In honor of America’s 250th birthday, we will not publish tomorrow but will be back in your inboxes Monday. Have a happy and safe July Fourth!
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
Top leadership news
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Moody’s economist Mark Zandi says the Iran war has already cost the typical U.S. household about $1,000 through higher gas, diesel, airfare, groceries, military spending, and borrowing costs. He argues the bill is still rising and could be even higher than his estimate.
Turning rejection into an opportunity
U.S. Polo Assn. CEO J. Michael Prince says he was passed over for a job at Nike. The setback taught him to treat opportunity like something fleeting, and his advice to Gen Z is to stay positive, work hard, and be ready when a chance appears.
The markets
S&P 500 futures are down 0.09% this morning. The last session closed down 0.22%. The STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.47% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.49% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 2.47%. South Korea’s KOSPI was down 7.89% today. China’s CSI 300 was down 2.96%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up 0.76%. India’s NIFTY 50 was up 0.72%. Bitcoin was up to $61K.
Around the watercooler
Exclusive: A VC firm backed by Melinda French Gates just closed a $46 million fund to invest in caregiving by Emma Hinchliffe
CEO of $248 billion cybersecurity company says workers are about to face a ‘Darwinian moment’ thanks to AI: Evolve or get cut by Emma Burleigh
How foodservice giant Sodexo is embracing AI and robotics to reshape the kitchen by John Kell
Inside Trump’s $1.4 billion crypto empire: Altcoins, Bitcoin—and a stake in Michael Saylor’s Strategy by Camila Grigera Naón
CEO Daily is curated and edited by Joseph Abrams, Jason Ma, Claire Zillman, and Lee Clifford.
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Diane Brady
